Quantum Cooking

Quantum computing definitely seems like a black box, and I was trying to find a real-world comparison. Here is how I see it:

Traditional cake recipe (courtesy of AllRecipes.com):

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
  3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Quantum computing cake recipe (as I understand quantum computing):

  1. Place eggs in a single-file line 6″ from the left of the countertop and 1″ away from you. Make sure the odd-sequenced ones are all aligned North-South and the even-sequenced ones are aligned East-West.
  2. Scatter flour into a 12″ by 8.43″ rectangle, exactly 2.58″ above the eggs.
  3. Levitate half cup of melted butter 7″ above your head.
  4. Stick your left thumb into your right ear and hop on one foot.
  5. In 5 minutes and 32 seconds, check your oven. There is an 80% chance you’ll find a cake, and a 1% chance you’ll find a squirrel. You won’t know until you check. Repeat this process 1000 times and you’ll figure out if that is really a recipe for cake, a squirrel, or nothing.